Week 27

This is the week we are going to really PUSH ourselves. We are getting so close we can almost taste it (or maybe that is just all the drywall dust in our mouths)...

anyway,

House #1 - got all their closets built, all their caulking done, got the whole house cleaned up and wiped down, taped and paint ready AND now have finished painting. They even got their vinyl floors put in! Their cabinets will be going in on Wed! Laminate floors are probably what will be next.

House #2 - finished closets, still working on caulking. Working on cleaning up and then prep for paint.

House #3 (our house) - we are a bit behind because we have been sick a lot, and I have been doing more babysitting and letting Tracie go out to work. But with some helpers we have been able to keep on track for the most part (THANK YOU!!!). So I have been caulking like crazy, and on saturdays Tyson has been building the closets. On Monday we will go finish up nailing stuff down, then caulking, then clean up. Tuesday we will do the wiping down of the walls and mopping the floors and hopefully taping the windows and taking the doors down to prep for paint.

House #4 - finished closets, and caulking and the paint prep. Should be painted in the first part of the week, then they can get their vinyl floor and cabinets too. The siding subcontractor is STILL working on their house.

House #5 - finished with closets, and were finishing up with caulking today. They are going to start prepping for paint. Still needs siding.

House #6 - working on closets. Still needs siding.

The MESS (dining room and kitchen area)

The Pantry

The front room

AND
Here is a sad little pic of Thomas when he was feeling so yucky. It is tough when the kids are sick, because I just don't know what else to do for them. I wish I wasn't so busy with all the house building stuff. And it was a blessing that we had volunteers help us this week, so we didn't have to worry about how many hours we had, so on one of the days I was able to just stay home with him.

Other random house stuff

this is a cabinet I FINALLY found for my laundry room - it's 4 ft wide, 24" tall, and 12" deep. It was perfect, and exactly what I was looking for. I won't get to install it until after the open house though.


ALL MY LIGHTING CHOICES -
the first one is the light for every bedroom, and the bathrooms and hallways.
The second one on the top is the vanity for the bathrooms - it is actually a vertical wall sconce, but when we saw it in the store it was horizontal and it was with all the other bathroom vanity lights. I love it! Tyson on the other hand, doesn't care either way, apparently, even though it was his idea.
The big one is the lights for the front of the garage - they are 15" tall, I wanted them to be on a grand scale, since our garage is much wider than everyone elses.
The last one on top is a powerful halogen lamp for the side and back yards.

The Track light will go in my kitchen.
The one with 3 lights goes in my walk-in closet.
Tyson and I both LOVE the wagon wheel chandelier, it's going over the dining room table.
And the ceiling fans will be in the masterbedroom and the front room.


These are my black appliances. We upgraded from the standard stuff that NNHC offers. I needed a double doored fridge (because it fits better in the floorplan) and I LOVE that it does NOT have an icemaker, because I know the kids would be soaking my floor with water if we had one. I also chose a flat top ceramic stove! I am so excited to try it out. I am pretty sure this is the dishwasher that comes with the house, though, and it looks great to me.


This is the bedding I had to have for our master bedroom. I am painting the room with navy blues and tans, so I think this bedding will really complete the look I am going for! (can't wait to show that off, someday)

Grayson is walking!!!!

The siding is finished!

We still need to paint the front door black. And as sad as it is, the WHITE garage door was all we had to choose from - we would have prefered gray, but maybe someday we will just paint it too.
I am also making some huge house numbers that I will paint black as well, and they will go under the lights on the left side of the garage.

Graysons birthday - Jan 28 - party on Jan 31

I was really sad that I took lots of pictures at Graysons birthday party, but the camera was acting up, because the battery doesn't hold a charge very well anymore. So most of my pictures were blurry.
Here are a couple that turned out alright.




This last picture was taken on his birthday, and I don't know why but he kept making this very silly face at me whenever I tried to take his picture. he would scrunch up his nose and open his mouth wide - this one he actually looks cute - the other ones - well, lets just say he looked more like he was screaming than smiling.

More house pics

Our kitchen cabinets!!!!! I wonder how many weeks until we can get them installed?

Grayson playing in the snow

Thomas Playing in the Snow

Week 23

we are just about to finish up week 23. I am still stressing out about getting done by April 30, which will be week 36. Can we get it all done in the 12 weeks that remain? And get that government money for the first time home buyers? I already have big plans for that cash - bbq grill, pergola, patio, patio furniture, a nice lawn, a lawnmower, a shed, more trees, more flowers etc. etc. etc......

House #1 is really cruising right along. The siding is done, they even have their shutters on. Inside they have their window sills, door trim and baseboards finished except for where they will put the laminate and vinyl flooring. They are starting on building closets.

House #2 has the window sills done and trim around the doors. They are working on the baseboards right now.

House #3 OUR HOUSE - we of course finished rocking. The window sills and door trim are done. Baseboards are next. I have been working on sketching the closets onto the walls, so that will be next after the baseboards are done.

House #4 are about as far along as house #1 - but they already have a few closets started.

House #5 are just about finished with their rock. Then they will move on to the inside trim and stuff.

House #6 is also about done with their rock, and will move on to trim work.

Several of us got our kitchen cabinets delivered today - they are sitting in our garages just waiting until we get to the painting stage - then they can be installed after.
Caulking is also a job we are all working on... we have to caulk everything... windows, doors, closets.
And then there is also the cleaning up. The drywall dust, the broken and sawed off shims from hanging doors, and sawdust from cutting the trim, baseboards, window sills, and at our house even the rock dust from cutting the stones to fit... its just a big mess. Right now I have swept stuff into piles in each room, but I don't want to waste my precious few hours each night cleaning, when I can be making more progress on the house work, so it just sits there until I can find extra time.

So we did finish up the rock on Sat. It only took us 6 days total to get it all done! Gotta love that quick stack rock!







this pic is a bit out of focus... I will get a better one next time.


the siding subcontractor should be coming back to finish up on our house next. He got all the rest of the house done, but decided to let us get the rock finished before he did the front. and after he got one of the other homes done this week, he told Norm that he was taking a week and a half off... so when he decides to get back to work, then our house will look AWESOME!!!